Oxford Museums and Galleries

The best places to get your hit of culture in a city that's full of it, from shrunken heads to Samurai.

The Ashmolean: Britain's oldest museum

Oxford: a place so dedicated to ancientness that the high street Pret is in a medieval cottage (which may or may not have been a brothel). Even with this in mind, the city probably punches above its weight in terms of museums and galleries. To start with, there are the brilliant and varied collections of Britain's oldest museum, the Ashmolean, which have grown even bigger and better and more full of glass tunnels since its recent refurbishment. There's the cultural tag team of the Pitt Rivers and Natural History Museums, which were some of my favourite places to visit as a kid and have barely lost their magic since. And there's the lovely, funny, inventive Story Museum, which is dedicated to creativity and the imagination and has a nonsense telephone box adorned with fairy lights to prove it.

We've included some history and some staff suggestions of where to visit below. A full list of museums and galleries in Oxford and Oxfordshire is at the bottom.

Old Things

The University’s main collection of art and archaeology, The Ashmolean, also happens to be the oldest museum in Britain. It originated in a cabinet of curiosities assembled by the Tradescants, a 17th-century father and son duo who were among the first people to make their collection accessible to the public. It later passed into the hands of Oxford University by way of the collector Elias Ashmole on the condition that it would remain available for anyone to see. The building constructed to hold the objects, which may have been designed by Christopher Wren, opened on Broad Street in 1683 and is universally agreed to be the first purpose-built museum building in the world.

Many of the objects from the Tradescant collection are still in the museum today. They including the deerskin, shell-encrusted mantle of the Native American chief Powhatan, Pocahontas' dad. Technically, they also have the only surviving stuffed Dodo in the world, but the remains are so fragile that they have to be kept in permanent storage. Later additions include the Alfred Jewel, a beautifully-preserved Samurai armour and one of the most amazing collections of Egyptian and Minoan antiquities in the world. Since it reopened its doors after a renovation by the architect Rick Mather in 2011 (which you should read about here), there have been twice as many items on display, many of which are in beautiful, light-filled new galleries connected by glass tunnels. The permanent exhibits remain entirely free and should be top of the list for any culture vultures visiting Oxford for the first time.

Although the Ashmolean has long since outgrown its original Broad Street home, the building is still put to good use as the Museum of the History of Science. If you have a spare afternoon, you could do a lot worse than spending it looking at their small but perfectly formed collection of astronomical items. The amazing array of astrolabes (lovely delicate medieval devices for predicting the positions of stars) is apparently the best collection in the world.

Once you're bored of consuming all of human history, pivot to even older things at the University Natural History Museum. Its holdings - which run into millions of specimens - include a gigantic Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton and a stuffed imitation dodo which provided some of the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland. The building itself is just as striking as the collection. It's a 19th century neo-Gothic masterpiece featuring a vaulted glass roof (renovated in 2014) supported by soaring cast iron pillars. John Ruskin was apparently so taken with the design that he used to make a daily trip just to admire it.

Venture through the back of the museum and you'll find yourself in another world entirely. The Pitt Rivers Museum is a wonderful, ramshackle anthropology collection that arranges its holdings higgledy-piggledy by type, rather than by chronology or by culture. This approach is apparently unfashionable in the anthropology world, but in this context it works very well, allowing for easy comparisons across space and time. Want to see thousands of musical instruments in a case, spanning thousands of years and multiple continents, or hundreds of types of spear lined up in a row? No problem! While you’re at it, check out the grizzly collection of shrunken heads on the ground floor.

Newer Things

For obvious reasons, Oxford is best known for history and fine art, but there are also a couple of modern galleries which are well worth visiting. The city’s foremost contemporary art space is Modern Art Oxford, an excellent but inconspicuous kind of venue housed in a converted brewery on Pembroke Street. They regularly host performances, film screenings, talks and live music and all their exhibitions are completely free. The café is highly recommended. One-upping MAO in the building conversion stakes is the O3 Gallery, a contemporary art space located inside the 18th-century Oxford Prison building. Its emphasis is on promoting and selling the work of local artists.

The best time for contemporary art fans to be in Oxford is May, when hundreds of local artists in the city and across Oxfordshire open their doors to the public for Oxfordshire Artweeks. There are dozens of exhibitions and they're all completely free free.

Finally, there's the Story Museum, a lovely, family-friendly, creative spot dedicated to promoting children’s literature, creative writing and the power of the imagination. They have a bustling programme of workshops, readings and other events as well as story-related permanent exhibits. To find them, go down St Aldate’s away from the centre of town and turn right onto Pembroke Street. You'll know you're in the right place when you see the multicoloured bunting.

A full list of museums and galleries in Oxford and surrounding areas is below. If you think we've missed something important, please get in touch! Email us at museum@dailyinfo.co.uk and let us know how we can fix it.

Museums

The Ashmolean is owned by the University of Oxford and celebrated its 300th anniversary in 1983. It is undoubtedly one of the finest museums in the country. The nucleus of the original collection (the first of its kind in Britain) was the Cabinet of Rarities of John Tradescant, which was inherited ...More info

Since pre-history Chinnor has been associated with travelling, lying as it does on the Icknield Way, a pre-Roman road. Any Iron Age ghosts who still traipse the Way might be amused to stop and wait for a steam train to pass by. The Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway give helpful details on ...More info

Short stretch of heritage railway, around 2.5 miles each way, from Wallingford to Cholsey, where it connects with the main line. There are no steam trains permanently housed by the CWR, but they do have them on loan, and they own an impressive collection of vintage diesel engines, and plenty of ...More info

Exhibitions about the settlement of Dorchester's 6000 years of history, including the women of WWI, the schoolroom, and more recently how Dorchester has featured as a location in Midsomer Murders. Oxford Archaeology has an on-going dig in the grounds excavating a Roman street, and the museum can ...More info

Small but perfectly-formed museum full of instruments and curiosities
from 500 years of scientific investigations in Oxford. Hosts regular
high-quality temporary exhibitions and special events. Remarkable collection of astrolabes. Einstein's blackboard can be viewed in the basement. They also ...More info

A fascinating resource for the dedicated local historian, the Centre will, by appointment, allow you to fondle their collection of county clothes and shoes dating back as far as the 17th century. They also store and preserve old local pictures and photographs, tools and archaeological finds. More ...More info

A fine collection of buses and other vehicles of the past including vintage bicycles and Morris cars. Rides, exhibits and information on how vehicles were produced at the Cowley works. Entry: £5 Adults, £4 Concessions, £3 Child, £13 Family (correct 2017)More info

The museum is housed in a purpose-built Victorian Gothic building inspired by Ruskin and recently restored. The principal collections, including skeletons of dinosaurs and skulls of our ancestors, are housed in a courtyard with a glass roof supported by columns of cast iron wrought to resemble the ...More info

A free museum all about the history of Oxfordshire - from local dinosaurs through Romans and Victorians to scientific discoveries. There are gardens, a café, and an education centre (which can also be hired for meetings: seats 60).More info

Model railways recapturing scenes from the English countryside as it was in the 20s and 30s. Several different layouts, including one that is so fragile it is only open on certain days (but a video is available at other times). Regularly open are Dartmoor, showing West Country landscape and a ...More info

One of the UK's foremost anthropological collections, bringing together extraordinary items from all over the world. Full of fascinating artefacts, from totem poles to lace-making equipment to rare instruments, weapons and various miracles of craftsmanship. One of our favourites is a series of ...More info

Home to the Arundel Collection of Greek and Roman sculpture and inscriptions, this gallery is one of the first and still one of the most striking spaces you see in the Ashmolean (directly on the left as you enter).
The room is available to hire (catering provided) outside museum hours. ...More info

Museum documenting Oxfordshire's rich military history.
Adults: £4.50, Concessions: £3.80, Children £2.50 (Under 5s Free).
Large meeting room available for hire. Capacity of 60 with theatre-style seating. £235 per day, inc. refreshments.
(Shares a site with The Oxfordshire Museum.)More info

The Story Museum celebrates story in all forms and explores their enduring power to teach and delight. It offers a rolling programme of events (including talks, storytelling, courses, workshops, author appearances and events for the whole family) and interactive family-friendly exhibitions.
We ...More info

Galleries

Commercial gallery in central Oxford, specialising in Modernism, but covering nine different departments: Old Master, Victorian, The Pre-Raphaelites, The Bloomsbury Set, School of Paris, Modern British, Post-war & Contemporary, YBA’s and by no means least The Oxfordians. Regular events include a ...More info

The Ashmolean is owned by the University of Oxford and celebrated its 300th anniversary in 1983. It is undoubtedly one of the finest museums in the country. The nucleus of the original collection (the first of its kind in Britain) was the Cabinet of Rarities of John Tradescant, which was inherited ...More info

Modern art gallery. Commercial gallery mainly specialising in 20th century Modern Art with a focus on works on paper including original prints. Works by Miro, Picasso and contemporaries. Plus visiting exhibitions, talks and events. The gallery works with private clients and institutions and are ...More info

New Oxfordshire gallery dedicated to promoting the best in contemporary art. Situated within a grade II listed Victorian mansion and recently-restored formal gardens located in the Oxfordshire village of Clanfield.More info

Oxford's main modern art gallery. Exhibitions, talks and tours, live music, performance and film screenings. Free admission to exhibitions. Rooms, including the Lower Gallery, Basement, and Yard, can be hired outside of the gallery's public opening hours. Foodwise, during Summer 2017 there's a ...More info

CLOSED: O3 Gallery closed permanently on 21st Nov 2015.
Selling exhibitions by regional artists working in the media of contemporary visual and applied arts. Also live events.
The O3 Gallery can host private or corporate functions and events. The combination of contemporary design with the ...More info

An association of artists who exhibit their own work and also mount exhibitions from other artists. Membership means you pay less in commission if you're selling work. Nice varied and mixed exhibitions.More info

Commercial gallery selling original contemporary art: paintings, sculpture and photography, online and from their gallery on the edge of the Cotswolds. Wychwood Art represents over 200 contemporary artists. They have price ranges from £25-£4,000 which helps makes art affordable for everybody.More info